


ABC Nursery

by JustinTimberlake



Category: Les Misérables (2012), Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, Incomplete, Kid Fic, abandoned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-10
Updated: 2013-06-29
Packaged: 2017-12-04 19:52:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/714454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustinTimberlake/pseuds/JustinTimberlake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kid!fic wherein Monsieur Valjean teaches a class of eight five year old pupils. Between Marius crying, Eponine’s increasingly worrying home life, and having to keep Headmaster Javert off his case, there’s not a spare moment for Valjean to rest within the confines of the hectic classroom.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story was abandoned years ago, I'm just editing this to make my account cleaner! Thank you xx

The nursery class was painted in stripes of vivid red, white and blue.

Valjean had done the decorating himself – Javert kept the school under quite a strict budget for things that he didn't deem necessary, and he couldn't think of anything more useless than painting the walls, no matter what Valjean said about 'atmosphere' and 'motivation to learn'. So Valjean had bought the paints himself and come in during the holidays, armed with masking tape, clad in paint-splattered jeans, and got to work.

All in all, it was probably one of Valjean's greatest accomplishments. He was really very proud of himself, though he tried not to show it, and the other teachers were equally as impressed. Coming in at all during the holidays was a remarkable achievement on its own, let alone redecorating an entire classroom. Even Headmaster Javert had given it a nod of approval, which from him basically equated to paragraphs of praise. More importantly though, the display made the kids gape in wonder when they came back after half-term.

Marius and Courfeyrac were the first to enter the classroom, a quarter of an hour early. It was not unexpected that the two of them arrived together – Marius' grandfather rarely brought him to school, and his parents even less. Courfeyrac’s relatives normally dropped Marius off in the mornings and picked him up, which made many of the other parents mistake them for brothers. It was an easy mistake to make – the two were as close as any pair of siblings, and it seemed Marius spent pretty much all of his time with Courfeyrac.

Courfeyrac's mother, a plump and jolly woman, hugged the two of them tightly in turn and Courfeyrac leant up and gave her a wet kiss on the cheek before Marius did the same, arms flung tightly around her neck.

Entering the classroom and taking off his coat, Marius looked around the room and clearly noticed the change in décor. Valjean watched him expectantly, eager to see his pupil’s reaction to his hard work. Marius tapped Courfeyrac on the shoulder to get his attention. It wasn't necessary though – Courfeyrac was already grinning manically and clapping his hands together in excitement. After taking his own coat off, he squealed loudly and dragged Marius toward the far wall with the coat hangers, where Valjean had painstakingly painted a large alphabet.

“Look, Marius! 'C' and 'M' are the same colour!”

So were 'F', 'J', 'K' and 'Z', but Marius didn't notice. He smiled at his friend in delight.

“Like Marius and Courfeyrac!”

Valjean shook his head fondly at the two giggling boys before he turned toward the open door, where another small boy and his mother were waiting.

“Good morning, Grantaire!” He greeted the little boy, who seemed unusually sullen. “Did you have a good holiday?”

Grantaire nodded his head minutely, squirmed out of his mother’s grasp and went to sit on the carpet without taking his coat off, slumping down dejectedly on the green material.

“I'm sorry,” Grantaire's mother said in a low voice. She tucked a dark curl of hair behind her ear nervously. “He's upset because his father has… Well. He's left.”

She attempted a brave smile as she waved goodbye to Grantaire, and Valjean patted her arm sympathetically. He assured her he would try to take Grantaire's mind off it, which she thanked him for profusely. It was clear she needed a break.

It wasn’t that Grantaire was ever a handful - he was generally a happy boy, which was why it was saddening for Valjean to see him like this. As his mother left, however, Valjean began to calculate a plan to cheer the little boy up. Luckily enough, after a couple of emails worth of convincing, Valjean had managed to procure some money from Javert to purchase new crayons and a big stack of coloured paper. He knew Grantaire absolutely loved colouring, and it was the best bet to make the little boy happy again. Valjean headed to the cupboard quickly to get a handful of the thick paper and the tray full of brightly coloured crayons and placed them on the table behind the bookcase before heading over to Grantaire.

By the time he returned Marius and Courfeyrac were sat on the carpet too, but they were on the other side, playing with a small set of toy dinosaurs. Courfeyrac gave Grantaire a quick glance of concern every once in a while, but the other boy had already refused to play with them and Courfeyrac didn’t want to upset his friend further. He shrugged and turned his attentions back to roaring loudly with his T-Rex in Marius’ face. Marius trailed his smaller stegosaurus behind, occasionally jumping on the T-Rex's back with a playful (and quite pitiful, if Courfeyrac’s roars were anything to go by) growl.

“Hey, Grantaire?” Valjean whispered, sinking to sit cross-legged next to the glum little boy. “Guess what?”

Grantaire looked up, chin resting on his hand.

“What?” He murmured as if he didn't care, but Valjean thought he could hear a note of hope in his voice.

“You know how you wanted new yellow and red crayons?”

Grantaire nodded slowly, eyes widening just a little bit.

“Why don't you come with me and have a look on this table over here?” He said encouragingly, standing up and waiting for the boy to drag himself over to the table. He hoped that the plan worked, otherwise nothing short of forcing Enjolras to spend the whole day with him would cheer Grantaire up.

As Grantaire was the person who abused the class crayon supplies the most often, Valjean had made sure to stock up on double the amount of yellow crayons that usually came in a box. He had even splurged on some gold and amber crayons especially for Grantaire, with several extra reds for when Enjolras decided to colour with him.

It was worth it when Grantaire saw the range of colours spread out in the tray and a slow smile formed on his face.

“Now you can go back to drawing Enjolras!” Valjean grinned down at him, gently ruffling his hair as Grantaire's smile grew.

He had been in a bad mood when he ran out of yellow last term, and that was the only other time that Valjean had seen him behaving like anything less than the cheerful boy he knew.

At the time, Valjean had suggested he just colour Enjolras' hair a different colour, or even not colour it at all, but this proposal had simply made Grantaire more offended and sullen. After all, Enjolras was Grantaire's favourite subject, and although Eponine, Courfeyrac and even Marius had been willing to be his models, Grantaire obviously missed being able to draw his golden haired friend.

He sat down almost immediately and picked up the yellow and amber crayons, getting to work on carefully sketching a mass of squiggly lines at the top of the page. Grantaire swung his legs under the table as he drew, the tip of his tongue poking out from the corner of his mouth in concentration. He seemed happier already, Valjean thought with a smile, and he sighed quietly in relief.

It was ominously quiet over on the carpet where Courfeyrac was whispering into Marius’ ear and pointing to the whiteboard markers, and Valjean, feeling a sort of suspicious dread, realised he should probably check that they were behaving. Just as he began to walk over, he noticed a familiar little girl walking through the door alone. Her long dark hair was messy and knotted along her back, and she wore tights that had ladders peeking out from underneath her creased skirt and stretching over her knee. He frowned and peered out of the open door.

“Where are your parents, Eponine?”

She bit her lip guiltily as she shrugged off her thin coat. She was shivering, and she rubbed her bare hands together as she put her coat on the hanger.

“Daddy couldn't give me a lift because he was busy,” she said timidly. “So they got me a taxi.”

Valjean eyed her doubtfully but said no more about it. He would have a word with Javert about it though and, if he would not do anything, Valjean would speak to her parents himself. Eponine looked around the room and a love heart printed on the wall next to the carpet caught her interest. She was silent, which was rather odd, but Valjean supposed that it might be because Cosette wasn't here with her.

“Grantaire's over there,” he said, pointing to the boy who was her 'second-bestest-friend', and Eponine whirled around quickly.

“Thank you M’sieur Valjean,” She said politely with a small grin, and skipped across the room to join Grantaire at the colouring table, flinging her little arms around him from behind.

“Eponine!” He yelled happily, dropping his crayons to hug her back and then gesturing for her to take the empty seat beside him.

Eponine did so happily, and they both laughed loudly together as she launched into the story of her and Cosette's trip to the farm (and the pig that had pooped). She picked up a blue crayon and started absently drawing a large letter 'E' on her piece of paper as she recounted the tale, while Grantaire carried on colouring in the masterpiece that Valjean knew was Enjolras.

Looking over, Valjean noticed that Marius and Courfeyrac had abandoned both their dinosaurs and their plotting, and were now animatedly discussing the 'Spongebob Squarepants' movie, sat cross-legged on the carpet. Courfeyrac had waved to Eponine as she looked over, but carried on giving an animated impression of Squidward to the delighted Marius.

Valjean looked up at the clock and realised there were only five minutes before the class officially started and four of his students hadn't arrived yet. None of them had ever been late before, however, and he was certain they would turn up soon.

As he waited, he strolled around the classroom and peered at Grantaire and Eponine's pictures. Eponine had drawn a large 'E' in blue with a purple flower next to it, and was now colouring the middle in yellow. Eponine's drawings were average of a five year old's doodles, but Grantaire had taken great care, as he always did, to colour in as strictly inside the lines as he could. It was clear that Grantaire had drawn Enjolras – his peach face surrounded by a mass of carefully scribbled curls, and a curvy line of red for his mouth, and eyes that were coloured by the brightest blue crayon Grantaire could find.

Grantaire peered over his shoulder when he realised he was being watched, and turned to look up at Valjean proudly. “I'm gonna give this to Enjolras today!” He announced, waving his page. Eponine nodded enthusiastically.

“It's really good, 'Taire!”

Valjean smiled in agreement . “I'm sure Enjolras will love it, Grantaire. It is really -”

“Enjolras!” Grantaire interrupted him, clambering out of his seat, and taking the picture with him. Eponine smiled at her friend as she picked up a different crayon, waving her hand at Enjolras before drawing a big red petal for her flower.

Enjolras hugged his dad goodbye and smiled at Grantaire, who was practically hopping from foot to foot in excitement. He carefully took his red velvet coat off – which, wow, Valjean thought, even he wouldn't wear velvet – and crossed the room to place it on the hook, with Grantaire following along behind him the entire way. Enjolras’ dad swung him around in a another big hug and smiled at Valjean as he left. Then Valjean caught a glimpse of the tiny Cosette starting through the playground with her frail mother. Both were dressed in expensive coats and Cosette had a large yellow bonnet on her head.

“I drew you this!” Grantaire grinned at Enjolras, sticking his drawing in Enjolras' face. Enjolras grinned back. He didn't possess the same kind of excited friendliness as Courfeyrac had, but he loved all his friends, and it always made him very happy when Grantaire drew him. He had a collection of scribbled likenesses in a box in his room at home, all signed shakily at the bottom with a red 'R'.

“You got more yellows!”

Grantaire giggled happily, and Valjean was prepared to bet this was the happiest he’d been since his father’s departure. He laughed even more when Enjolras took his wrist and led him over to the bookcase near the carpet, where Marius and Courfeyrac were engaging in a tickle war.

“Thank you for the drawing Grantaire,” Valjean heard Enjolras state sincerely, before he picked out a picture book from the shelf to read to his friend, cross-legged in the far corner of the carpet so the other two boys had space to roll around.

Valjean grinned at Cosette as she all but ran into the classroom.

“M’sieur Valjean!” She squealed, attaching herself to his leg. He smiled down at her fondly before looking up at her mother, who was looking much better since she had secured a job at a retailing company and increased her living standards considerably. She stood in the doorway a little awkwardly as her daughter hugged her teacher’s leg tightly.

Cosette seemed to think of Valjean as a replacement father figure as she didn’t have a real father in her life, and though he probably shouldn't show favouritism, Valjean loved her like a father would love a daughter.

When Cosette let go of him, she smiled.

“M’sieur Valjean, the room is so pretty!”

“Why thank you, Cosette! I painted it myself.”

Her mother smiled at him. “That's quite an achievement M. Valjean. It must have taken you days.”

He nodded. “Well, what can be more important than brightening up the classroom for my favourite pupils in the whole wide world?” He exclaimed in an over-the-top manner, making Cosette giggle even as her mother kissed her on the cheek.

“Have a nice day, Cosette!” she said, and then more softly, close to her ear: “You should invite Eponine over if her parents allow it, I'll make enough supper for her too. She can sleep over if she wants.”

She waved over at Eponine, who waved back at her enthusiastically, and slipped out of the door with a warm smile at Valjean.

He watched Cosette run over to Eponine. The two girls started to squeal in a way that all pairs of girls do, hugging one another like they had been parted for years. It was great for Eponine to have made a friend so dedicated, especially one whose mother loved the little girl just as much as she loved her own. It meant that Eponine could spend a considerable amount of time at Cosette's house, which Valjean trusted to be a nicer environment than the Thenardiers.

Valjean's nursery class was small, but then the whole school was small compared to the others in the area. It was an old school that used to have separate buildings for girls and boys. Sometime in the past few decades the girls’ section was knocked down for health and safety reasons. This was why it was around half the size of an ordinary school, and subsequently Valjean had a tiny class this year of only eight pupils. He didn't mind though. On the contrary, it meant more time could be spent getting to know the pupils and helping them individually.

A sudden cough sounded from the doorway and Valjean noticed Joly and his parents standing there, the father tapping his foot a little impatiently.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Valjean smiled warmly. “Hello Joly,” He greeted the tall child, who smiled thinly at him in return. “How was your holiday?”

Joly's hand clutched his mother’s trouser leg as he answered quietly.

“It was nice,” he gripped her leg tighter as she started to move away. “We went to the zoo.” He finished in an almost whisper, but his smile was genuine as he shyly let his mother detach herself from him.

When he had reluctantly let his parents go, Joly stood in the doorway and took his coat off. He stayed in the doorway for a moment, hesitant to come in, but stepped inside once he heard approaching footsteps. Valjean’s last student, Combeferre, was being carried toward the door on his father’s back.

Combeferre smiled at Joly as his father put him down, greeting the other boy warmly. Joly gave him a shy smile in return as he crossed the room to put away his coat. He opened his book bag and got out one of the harder books the nursery class had to offer and took it over to the table next to Eponine and Cosette's, peering at it as he walked. They both grinned at him and squealed his name, but Joly didn’t stop reading, only gave them a half-hearted wave as he continued to scan the page.

Combeferre bid his father goodbye in a very grown-up manner for a five year old, and as they shook hands, Valjean let out an involuntary laugh that he tried to cover up with a cough. It wouldn't do to make the children think he was laughing at them, or mocking them. As Combeferre chatted with Valjean about his week off, Enjolras seemed to notice his friend had arrived.

“Combeferre!” Enjolras shouted loudly.

Valjean gave him a reproachful look.

“Inside voices, please, Enjolras.”

Enjolras looked suitably admonished, but skipped over to Combeferre anyway to talk to his friend and tell him all about his holiday. Grantaire remained sat in the same spot on the carpet staring at the abandoned book for a minute before he closed the book carefully and crossed the carpet to sit with Eponine and Cosette at the drawing table. He had to navigate the tangle of limbs that were Marius and Courfeyrac, who were writhing about in giggles, still feebly tickling each other’s sides. Grantaire passed them with a chuckle – Courfeyrac's laugh was infectious.

“Grantaire! Draw me!” Cosette exclaimed when he sat down next to them, and he smiled at her as he picked up a crayon. “You've not drawn me for aaaaaaages!”

Grantaire pressed a crayon to his lips thoughtfully. He really did want to draw Enjolras again, but the other boy was playing with Combeferre and it made Grantaire a little sad, and not as willing to draw him again just yet. Anyway, Cosette was fun to draw, and the only reason why he’d not drawn Cosette for a while was because her hair was the same colour as Enjolras’s, and he’d used up all the yellow crayons. He smiled happily at the girl and nodded, before picking up the peach crayon.

“I have yellows now,” he said proudly, and he began to draw.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first fic in the fandom, and I haven't completely finished 'the brick' yet, so please don't feel too offended if I've characterised your favourite character horrifically (or if they aren't in it at all)  
> Anyway, comments are very much appreciated, and thank you a lot for reading!!  
> Special thanks to [orestes](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Orestes) for being my beta and generally best person in the world!


	2. Chapter 2

“Marius, are you ready to read?”

The first order of business every morning was to read with the children individually and assess how their reading skills were improving, all the while helping them with their pronunciation. Marius was the last student to be called up, and as he picked himself up from the floor to join him, Valjean chose a thinner, easier book up from the pile for Marius. It wasn't technically in Javert's 'rulebook' – Javert wanted all the students reading more advanced books, but Marius wasn't ready just yet, so Valjean decided to take it at a slower, more appropriate pace.

Valjean did a quick cursory check on the other students' behaviour; Enjolras and Combeferre were enacting some sort of dramatic play on the carpet in front of Grantaire and Courfeyrac (and previously Marius, before he was called over), while Cosette and Eponine played 'house' with plastic teapots, saucepans, plates, and even plastic dolls. Joly read his book on the same table he had always sat at, his concentration lapsing every so often to watch Enjolras and Combeferre perform, or to observe Cosette and Eponine play at raising a child. Being Joly, he was perfectly happy to watch rather than engage. 

Marius coughed nervously as he sat down next to Valjean. This was the worst part of the day for him, and he seemed to dread it. Marius was a very self-conscious child, and Valjean got the impression that Marius knew he was trailing behind the other pupils academically, but particularly in reading.

“Hello Marius.” He smiled down at him encouragingly, and continued. “We have a lovely little book today Marius. It's one of your favourite fairy tales, Cinderella!”

Marius smiled a little and pulled his chair closer to the table. Of course, it was a simplified version, around half the size of the normal tale, and with around twenty words on each page. Still, Valjean was looking forward to seeing how Marius would tackle it. He opened the book to the first page and gently asked him to begin. Marius nodded, then looked down and tried to focus on the page.

~*~

Marius had made a great improvement in terms of the way his words flowed, but he still had difficulties with his pronunciation. Valjean resolved to create some phonetic exercises before tomorrow.

Marius was now sat with Eponine and Grantaire. The three were on a more similar level in terms of maths, and so they were in the ‘Red’ group. They were working on a few simple addition sums Valjean had given them, Marius furrowing his brow every so often and asking Eponine (in murmurs) to help him. Eponine was all too happy to oblige, so Valjean left them for the time being, thinking he would go and help Marius properly in a few minutes. As it was, he'd hardly spoken to the other group, and Courfeyrac seemed to be struggling with some of the harder subtraction questions that he'd just introduced them to. 

“Courfeyrac,” Valjean began, pulling up a chair beside him and smiling. “Do you need any help with some of these?”

Courfeyrac nodded in relief, and Joly looked up hopefully.

“You’re stuck too, Joly?” He asked kindly, before surveying the group. “What about you three, Enjolras, Combeferre? Cosette?”

Joly nodded and shuffled his books closer to Valjean, but the other two boys shook their heads happily. He glanced at their work. As usual, Enjolras and Combeferre had worked diligently and were almost finished. Valjean wasn't surprised – they were both very intelligent for their age. Joly was doing well too, he had just gotten a bit confused at the sums involving two digit numbers. It was a similar case with Courfeyrac whereas Cosette seemed to be doing just as well as Combeferre and Enjolras. Still, she leant forward and listened to Valjean anyway.  

“Okay,” Valjean said to Courfeyrac and Joly, “Both of you put all fingers up on both of your hands and put them on the table, here, next to each other.” 

The two boys complied and Valjean turned to Courfeyrac. 

“How many numbers is that?”

“Twenty!” Courfeyrac answered loudly. 

Joly nodded in agreement, and Valjean pointed to Joly's fingers. 

“Okay. Joly, take away three of your fingers,” he waited until Joly had done so before continuing. “Okay, how many are there now?”

“Seventeen.” Joly was the first to answer this time, though his reply was much quieter than Courfeyrac’s had been. 

“We just did a subtraction, didn't we?” Valjean smiled. “What was the subtraction that we just did?” he asked, knowing that ’20 – 3 = ?’ was the question they were currently stuck on.

Valjean observed proudly as the imaginary light bulb lit above their heads. As soon as realisation dawned, the two of them grinned at him, and started scribbling away in their notebooks. As he walked away, he saw them line up their fingers on the table in preparation for the next question and he smiled, laughing fondly under his breath. 

Then that he headed over to the other table again to replace Eponine as Marius's personal tutor. When he glanced back at Enjolras's table a few minutes later, he realised that Enjolras and Combeferre would be finished soon. 'No rest for the wicked', he thought to himself amusedly. 

~*~

Later on, the kids sat cross-legged on the carpet in two rows. They were facing Valjean who sat on the 'teacher's chair' and feeling very ready to teach them some spelling.

Marius and Courfeyrac sat at the back, Courfeyrac's arm around his smaller friend's shoulder. Next to them were Eponine and Cosette both giggling and glancing at Marius every so often. Naturally, Marius thought they were making fun of him, and snuggled closer into Courfeyrac's arm bashfully. Grantaire sat in front of Eponine, who occasionally poked him playfully in the back. Predictably, he was sat next to Enjolras, and he seemed bursting with the wish to talk to him or get his attention. Combeferre sat next to Enjolras, though, and both were silent and concentrating on Valjean with respectful looks upon their faces, always eager to learn. Next to Combeferre was the shy Joly, who too was simply focused on Valjean and waiting.

Valjean cleared his throat, and they all looked round at the teacher. Now he had the attention of the whole class, so he smiled brightly.

“Hello everyone! Now we're all sat together, I trust you all had a nice holiday?”

Cosette, Courfeyrac and Combeferre all started talking at once. 

“Me and Eponine went to the farm! We saw ducks and cows and pigs and -”

“I went to the seaside M'sieur Valjean! And Marius came too! And -”

“Yes M'sieur Valjean! Me and my daddy -”

The three children quieted suddenly when the door slammed. Valjean looked up, unsurprised. It was of course only a matter of time before the headmaster came to check up on him, and to ‘lay down the law.’

“Headmaster Javert!” He said with a warm smile, and beckoned the looming figure closer into the room. Javert obliged, albeit reluctantly.

“Monsieur Valjean,” He said stiffly, nodding his head at him in lieu of a greeting, then looked at the children with poorly disguised distaste. He had always disliked the smaller children the most; he didn't understand them and wasn't able to relate to or connect with them at all. God knows why he came in the classroom so often. 

Valjean secretly thought the Headmaster would do better to steer clear of the nursery class entirely, considering all his his presence ever did was frighten the children. As Javert cast his eyes around the room, Marius actually let out a quiet whimper when his cold gaze landed on him. In retaliation, Courfeyrac glowered at Javert, holding his friend protectively all the while. 

The room was silent.

Uncomfortable, Javert cleared his throat. 

“So,” He began in an overly intimidating tone, “You’re all still alive.” 

Valjean looked at him incredulously, raising an eyebrow.  Marius was now practically sat in Courfeyrac’s lap, terrified. The other students didn’t seem as affected – in fact, Eponine looked as if she was fighting away laughter. The intensity of Courfeyrac’s glare had increased, and it seemed Javert had noticed. After a moment, he glared back at the boy with equal venom. 

“It seems you’re not as stupid as I thought,” He murmured, with a hint of approval in his voice. He tapped his black, wooden cane against his leg. He never used the cane, and never told anyone why he carried it – Valjean assumed he just wanted to seem threatening. It didn’t seem that this was the aim though, as Javert frowned slightly in confusion at Marius who was white with terror and focusing on the cane. 

Valjean got the strong feeling, as he always did, that Javert was completely out of his depth when confronted with five year olds – and these were not just any five year olds, but terrified ones. It was almost as if he didn't know he was actively scaring them, and one could nearly assume he was simply confounded by the whole ordeal. Valjean took pity on him.

“Are you here to give us some rules Headmaster Javert?” He inquired helpfully. 

Any other teacher would have thanked Valjean for interjecting, or at least sent him a smile, but Javert merely sent him a slightly annoyed glance.

“Yes,” he said shortly, digging around in his blazer pocket for the neatly folded list. He crossed over to Valjean and handed him the sheet, which contained no less than forty-two rules. 

Valjean scanned them quickly, spotting the usual expected ones: “No stealing,” “No running,” “No talking near the Headmaster’s office,” and a number of similar rules, mostly forbidding pupils to do anything that would involve a close proximity to Javert. 

“Thank you, Headmaster,” Valjean nodded at him, putting the folded list in his own inside pocket. Javert had not moved from his place next to him, and was still surveying Marius with apprehension. 

“Yes, well.” He snapped back to Valjean. “Make sure you adhere to them, and the pupils too.” He raised a threatening eyebrow toward the children on the carpet. 

He started walking away briskly, but just as he was about to leave the room he turned back. He looked at Marius, then back at Valjean. 

“You might want to check that boy is not unwell. He seems most pale and sickly.” 

And with that, he left. 

~*~ 

Lunch break had passed with only one minor accident. Marius had fallen over and scraped his knee, which had prompted Cosette and Eponine to cry for ten minutes, and Courfeyrac to shout at Valjean. The boy had apologised sheepishly later on, and Valjean had reassured him that he didn’t mind. At least, it was than the stories he heard about Lamarque’s year six class. Valjean had heard that there had been a brawl between two of the students, and one of them – Montparnasse, he thought – had been suspended. Still, he was glad that Javert had already been into the class for the day, as dealing with him at a time like this would be horrific. 

Enjolras sidled up to Valjean while the rest of the class were busy singing a nursery rhyme. 

“M’sieur?” He inquired politely, taking a seat next to the teacher. Valjean smiled at him, wondering what he was going to request. Enjolras opened his mouth to talk at the precise moment that Courfeyrac let out a loud belch, and Enjolras let out a quick huff of laughter before trying again. 

“Can me and Combeferre build a…” He struggled for the right word. “A fort? A, uh, barricade?” He smiled up at Valjean hopefully. 

“Of course you can!” Valjean answered, and he looked around to see what they could use. “Just make sure you’re careful manoeuvring the furniture…” He paused. “Or maybe you could just use the cushions.” 

He debated for a second about the materials as Enjolras whooped in delight and he gestured for Combeferre to follow him to the other side of the room where the beanbags and cushions lay. As they began excitedly planning, wondering whether to draw a quick sketch of the structure before they attempted to build it, Valjean saw Grantaire watching them work mournfully from a few steps away, and he called Enjolras over in a low voice. 

“Why don’t you ask Grantaire to play with you?” Valjean asked softly, looking at the boy. “Perhaps he’ll be able to help you draw your sketch?” he suggested, and Enjolras widened his eyes and nodded enthusiastically. 

Moments later, he ran over to Grantaire and grabbed his arm. 

“Grantaire! Will you play with us?” 

Surprised, Grantaire beamed and looked over questioningly to Combeferre, who smiled back in response. 

At Combeferre's smile of approval, Grantaire skipped happily, though hesitantly, over to the area that the boys had designated for the barricade. Enjolras didn’t let go of his arm until they had reached the cushions, and then it was only to grab a chair and stand on top of it imperiously. 

“We need you to help us plan our barricade!” he said loudly, pointing at Grantaire. Combeferre rolled his eyes, leaving to pick up a wad of paper for the other boy to draw on. The poor boy would be roped into their games for the foreseeable future now that Enjolras realised his potential usefulness. Of course, it was clear to anyone above the age of six that Grantaire didn't mind one bit. 

Eager to oblige, Grantaire pulled a red crayon out of his pocket – Valjean wished he would stop doing that – and settled down, beginning to draw a vague semblance of a row of chairs. Enjolras and Combeferre peered over his shoulder as he drew, Combeferre quietly impressed, while Enjolras was constantly voicing his opinion with a _“That's brilliant”_ , “That chair is too big,” or “It's so good, Grantaire!” 

Grantaire positively preened under the praise. After no time at all he finished, and, declaring it sufficient planning, Valjean helped Enjolras tack the drawing up on the wall with blu-tack like a blueprint, and the three boys began. 

~*~ 

Courfeyrac had been giving the boys longing glances as they built their barricade, and when they were halfway through he eventually managed to coerce Marius into joining them, hauling the smaller boy across the room to the others. 

“We want to help!” He announced petulantly. 

Enjolras looked at Marius sceptically, obviously doubting his usefulness. Enjolras and Marius didn't get on very well – Marius would (unintentionally) ruin Enjolras's games by refusing to participate in more overt roles, or by getting distracted by other things, such as a butterfly flying past the window or the shape of a cloud. It made Enjolras very frustrated, tossing his hands up in the air exasperatedly and stalking off most of the time. Because of this, Marius was convinced Enjolras hated him, and he was sort of scared of him, which was evident from his nervous twitches as he stood in front of the other boy. 

Enjolras sighed minutely just looking at him, but nodded in acceptance because he knew better than to refuse help for his cause. Courfeyrac grinned excitedly, and began picking up cushions and chucking them at the pile until Combeferre pointed out Grantaire's plan on the wall, and Marius undertook the task of making sure Courfeyrac adhere to it. 

At Courfeyrac and Marius's welcome into the group, Eponine and Cosette crept over to watch the boys at work. Cosette was perfectly happy to simply watch, her legs dangling over the edge of the table. A moment after she sat, she waved Valjean over to sit with her. 

Eponine was never content to watch however, and she slowly sidled closer and closer, eager to participate. Grantaire smiled at her encouragingly as she approached, so she grew confident enough to appeal to Enjolras directly. 

“I want to join,” She looked at Enjolras almost defiantly, daring him to refuse her. He wouldn't though; he didn't have a problem with her. Most girls annoyed him, but Eponine was different a lot of the time, and she was always good at the serious games. 

He nodded, and let her pass. 

“We're almost done, though,” He warned, and sure enough, they were. 

Another ten minutes or so of preparation, and the barricade was built. Three beanbags lay across a row of upturned chairs, and on top of those were a mountain of cushions. Two thick gymnastics mats lay on either side, provided by Valjean when he realised the goal behind the structure was for Enjolras to climb up to the top. It wasn’t that Valjean didn’t _trust_ him exactly, he just wanted to be careful. 

Enjolras had ascended their construction as soon it was complete, and now he was preaching to the masses, perching precariously on top of a particularly wobbly cushion. Of course, his preaching actually meant that he was reading ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ to the rest of the group in a very serious tone. The children were sat on a row of tables Valjean had placed just in front of the safety mat, and Valjean stood behind them. 

Grantaire sat right in front of Enjolras, watching him, spellbound, though he had read the book countless times. It was his idea for Enjolras to read it, as it was his own favourite book. Cosette and Eponine only half-listened, because Eponine was concentrating on Cosette, braiding her long blonde hair. Courfeyrac sat between Marius and Grantaire, and gave up on distracting the latter when he didn't pay attention, and so bugged Marius by trying to braid his hair like the girls. Joly had joined the group when the barricade was just about finished, and had perched on the end table uncertainly, until Combeferre had sat right next to him with an open smile, and Joly had warmed to the serious little boy and settled to watch Enjolras read enthusiastically to the class.

Valjean looked at the clock. There was only around half an hour left of the school day, though this didn’t come as a relief - Valjean genuinely loved his job, and today had been particularly enjoyable. As happy as he was that the children were all coming together and happy, though, he could not help but survey the scene with some regret. He was the one who'd have to clean up the bloody barricade, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta'd extensively by the lovely [orestes](http://archiveofourown.org/users/orestes)  
> thank you!!!  
> Anyway, let me know what you think, I hope you like this chapter!  
> Comments (and kudos) are always welcome.  
> Thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Eponine was late for school. Forty two minutes late to be exact. Most worryingly, there hadn't been a phone call or prior warning from her parents, and when Valjean had called them to find out what was going on, there had been no answer. He'd tried the landline and both the mobile phones, and only received an answering machine. Valjean was growing worried. In fact, he was a little scared.

“Combeferre?” He addressed the boy, trusting him to be sensible enough to stop any major disasters from occurring while Valjean was gone. “Can you take charge of the class for just a tick while I go and fetch the Headmaster?”

At Combeferre's proud nod, Valjean instructed the rest of the class to behave and he took a cursory look around the room before leaving it. Cosette and Grantaire were sitting in the corner, facing the door and waiting for their friend. Neither of them had said as much to Valjean, but it was evident they were both worried about Eponine, especially since Valjean wasn't acting completely himself. 

This was the last straw, as far as Valjean was concerned, for the Thenardiers. He'd given them so many chances, assured enough by the fact that Eponine had Cosette's house for refuge. It wasn't just about Eponine any more though. It was about all of them, sweet Azelma and tiny Gavroche. And Eponine, of course, the five year old girl who seemed to act like any other girl her age, but she already had a penchant for lying and evasion. This she had developed out of some twisted sense of duty she had to her (quite frankly) abusive parents. Valjean had had enough.

“Javert,” he started urgently, barging into the headmaster’s office with reckless abandon. “Eponine is missing.”

Javert had looked up in utter shock at Valjean's entry. It was, of course, stated very clearly in the rules, underlined and in bold, to knock before entering his office. He blinked, startled though unsurprised by Valjean’s villainy, but just a few seconds later his shock was replaced by a look of grim, furious determination.

“Thenardier?” He snarled, thrusting his chair back.

Valjean would have wondered about the intense reaction, but Javert had always held a grudge against the 'thieving scum' ever since Thenardier attempted to scam Fantine, Cosette's mother, in the middle of the playground last autumn, right in front of Javert.

Fantine had been forced to fly over to Brittany for some sort of business trip on short notice, and since she knew Cosette was very close with Eponine and she hadn't been living around the area long enough to know about how much of a horrific couple the Thenardiers' made, she near begged them to let Cosette stay over for a night. She had thanked them profusely when they allowed it, proclaiming them lifesavers.

Valjean remembered it well: it was a Wednesday night, so the next day the two were dropped off at school by a taxi, and both of them were right as rain, so excited about their sleepover that they wouldn’t let anyone hear the end of it. Javert had scheduled his first official appointment with the class that day, which was necessary as it was one of the first weeks of term, and had spent around half an hour barking away at the class. By the end of his speech, he was practically growling at the girls when they giggled together about their fantastic sleepover. Neither Eponine nor Cosette were afraid of Javert, however, and later, when he was looking awkward after a bout of shouting that didn't seem to affect any one (Marius was ill that day), they had clung on to him and told them all about their brilliant night, until he finally managed to pick them off him. When they were a suitable distance away from him Javert had breathed a sigh of relief, as if he had just succeeded in disinfecting himself from a particularly nasty virus.

Later, Thenardier accosted Fantine, claiming that Cosette had been frightfully ill all night, and that she had ruined his furnishings with her sick, demanding faux-kindly for payment to have it cleaned. Valjean had started across the playground indignantly, knowing it was a lie, but before he'd made it to Fantine’s side, Javert had stormed his way over in half the time. 

Valjean never found out what Javert had snarled in Thenardier's ear, but he supposed he didn't need to. He'd seen for himself the whiteness of Thenardier's face, and his hurried escape. He had also seen Javert, face purpling with fury.

Javert had a very strong sense of law and order, and he believed it was his duty to see that things were conducted correctly in his school, although Valjean privately believed Javert probably (at least vaguely) believed himself to be the finest policeman of the town. As far as he was concerned, he intercepted more crimes in the playground than the entire police force of Paris did, and he worked by himself. 

In particular, Javert hated thieves. Valjean knew that better than most. He still hadn't forgiven Valjean for forgetting to give back that bloody pen three years ago, which he hadn't even _meant_ to take in the first place. He'd just slipped it into his pocket out of habit, without realising until he got home that night that he still had Javert's pen. But by then it was too late. Woefully, he had resigned himself to the confrontation the next day, and had walked into school as if he had a death sentence hanging over his head. 

Now wasn’t the time to think about his past mistakes, however, and Valjean focused on the situation at hand, as Javert began to lead him out of his office, muttering furiously.

“Do you know,” he addressed Valjean directly, which made the other man start in surprise, “Thenardier is hanging out of prison by a thread. I didn't want to do it, because of the children. But I will. One call,” he stated. “One call is all it will take.”

As Javert disappeared through the door of Valjean's classroom, he was sure he could hear another muttered, “One call.”

When the two walked in, Combeferre was knocked back, as he had been about to leave the classroom himself. Valjean regarded him with surprise, until the young boy pushed his glasses up and gestured over to the other door.

“She's here now, M'sieur Valjean!”

Thenardier was stopped several paces from the door, thwarted in his attempt to sneak off when no teacher was around. He fixed a crooked smile firmly in place, he gesturing to Valjean.

“Sorry she's late Monsieur,” he began in an inexplicably amused voice, “We got caught up with baby Gavroche, and we needed little ‘Ponine's help.” 

Eponine ducked her head when he tried to pat it, darting away from his so she could hug Cosette back. Cosette was clutching at her like she hadn't seen her in years, and she whispered fiercely in Eponine’s ear about how worried she was. Eponine apologised in a similar whisper, saying she had to do the sweeping and cleaning up Gavroche's sick, and that her parents shouted at her until she did it so she couldn't sneak off. 

Neither Valjean nor Javert heard her, but if they had it might have sprung them into action. As it was, Cosette just hugged her tighter sympathetically and promised her that she could sleep at her house tonight, and both men simply glared at Thenardier as he stalked off, hands in his pockets, leaving the door wide open behind him. 

Javert let out an angry puff of breath, and squared his shoulders. He made to leave, but Valjean gripped his wrist to stop him. They stared at each other, determination in their eyes. It was a silent agreement that they would do something about Thenardier before the week was out. Valjean, satisfied that action would be taken, turned to face the class, as he released Javert’s wrist.

He only just heard Javert's growl as he left the room.

_“This isn't over.”_

~*~  
After the chaotic start to the morning, Valjean decided to only read with each of them before granting them an early break time. Marius had really been trying, and had finally got the pronunciation of “While” right. Valjean was immensely pleased, and found ways to slip it into conversation with the boy, just to see his proud little smile as he said it. 

Grantaire had also improved, but his progress was at a quite alarming rate. It wasn't that he was unskilled from the beginning, but he had gone from stuttering over a fair number of words to saying them, and more difficult ones, with ease almost overnight. Valjean was surprised to say the least, but nevertheless he thought it was very impressive. He wondered for at least ten minutes how Grantaire had managed it, even while he was listening to the boy read, but when it was Courfeyrac's turn, he quickly figured it out.

“Enjolras,” Grantaire began shyly. “I can read that book now,”

Enjolras glanced at him, confused for a second. Combeferre smiled kindly, fiddling with his glasses as he nudged Enjolras.

“The one Enjolras wanted you to read the other day?” He asked kindly, a subtle enough reminder to his friend that Grantaire wouldn’t be alerted to the fact that Enjolras has forgotten about it. 

Grantaire nodded, and Enjolras’s face brightened.

“Do you want to read it now?” He grinned at Grantaire, who smiled bashfully in return, sending a thankful glance at Combeferre.

Obviously the answer was “Yes!” so as Courfeyrac sat down to read with Valjean, Grantaire did the same with Enjolras. Combeferre lingered at Grantaire's side inconspicuously in case Grantaire struggled with any words, but it was fine. Grantaire had clearly been practising.

 

~*~

The second disaster happened before eleven o'clock. It just wasn't destined to be a good day.

Cosette had been the one to suggest the game of football that had triggered it all, which is a major part of why Valjean wasn't – couldn't be - angry. Another reason why he wasn't angry at the children was that it was his own stupid idea to give them an early break. He scolded himself as he surveyed the classroom.

Enjolras was sat on the 'time-out chair,' and Grantaire looked pained when Valjean insisted he keep his distance. It wasn't a punishment if his friends could talk to him while he was there, he reasoned with the boy. Still, Grantaire gazed mournfully over every couple of seconds, even when Eponine tried to distract him. Combeferre, on the other hand, seemed to simply accept Enjolras's fate, even agree with it, and so he had taken a seat next to Joly. Joly, as always, looked a little afraid. 

Marius was crying. Although it was only a matter of time – Marius cried a lot – Valjean was upset that it had happened so early on in the term. Courfeyrac clutched him close, with his own face buried in Marius's hair. Valjean suspected Courfeyrac was in tears too, and this was evident in the fact that Cosette was rubbing both of their backs soothingly, and not just Marius’s. Marius was sobbing loudly, nose running all over Courfeyrac's jumper, and his little frame was shaking as Cosette tried to keep him upright. Eponine alternated between comforting Marius, sending slightly sympathetic glances to Enjolras who seemed close to tears himself, and holding Grantaire's hand because he was also crying, though his tears fell so silently that no one else seemed to have noticed.

The worst thing about it all was that it had happened so quickly. One minute they were all playing football together happily, and everything was going well – after the success of the barricade yesterday, Enjolras had even let Marius be on his team. But then Marius, clumsy as he is, tripped over the ball and somehow, miraculously, managed to kick it into their own goal, past Combeferre's feet. Enjolras's jaw had tightened angrily, but he had inhaled deeply as Marius looked up and apologised anxiously, and, graciously, Enjolras had let it be.

Valjean watched nervously, about to step in and tell them to call it a day, but as he cautiously walked over another disaster struck. 

It unfolded as if in slow-motion. Enjolras had been running to the goal, hoping to compensate for Marius's own goal, and Marius had chosen that exact moment to execute a forward roll. Cosette and Eponine had bent down to do it with him, laughing, but it was his turn first, Eponine had insisted. He had, regrettably, underestimated the length of ground he would cover, and so overshot a little into the pitch, right into the direct line of Enjolras's path. Marius's legs caught Enjolras mid-run, causing him to stumble. He lost the ball, arms waving around in the air as if he was trying to grab on to something, or someone, before finally falling on the ground with a quiet 'thud'.

There was deathly silence for a moment, and then there was a sudden cacophony of noise. Valjean ran over, asking Enjolras frantically if he was okay, while Grantaire cried out loudly. Cosette and Eponine nearly screamed, holding each other’s arms and staring down at Enjolras with worry. Enjolras stayed mute for a minute, unresponsive, while Valjean inspected him thoroughly. With a sigh of relief, he found that Enjolras seemed fine. There wasn't a single scrape or bruise that Valjean could see.

Relieved, Valjean glanced up, about to make some sort of joke to smooth things over, but he realised that Enjolras still hadn't spoken, and that the playground was silent once more. With a mild sense of dread, he also realised that Enjolras's tiny fists were clenched. His face was reddening, and he slowly turned to look at Marius, shaking with anger.

“I'M NEVER PLAYING WITH YOU AGAIN!” He screamed at a trembling Marius.

“I did- didn't mean t-” Marius stuttered desperately, wringing his hands. Courfeyrac seemed frozen in place on the other side of the makeshift pitch, and all the rest of the children were watching the scene unfold with the same silent horror. Combeferre sent a hopeless look to Valjean. Enjolras struggled against Valjean's loose grip.

Valjean was trying to whisper soothing soothing nothings in his ear. It didn't work. 

Enjolras leant forward minutely and regarded Marius with a look of cool fury.

“I hate you,” he spat venomously and suddenly pulled his leg back and aimed a hard kick at Marius's shin. Marius cried out, bending down to clutch at his leg. This was when everyone sprang into action – Valjean frog-marched Enjolras inside, while Courfeyrac positively sprinted across the playground to his friend, shouting angrily at Enjolras's back all the way. 

And so, the scene of tears and weepy children occurred a mere ten minutes later, after Valjean had finally managed to shepherd everyone inside. He had placed Enjolras on the thinking chair, though it didn't take much convincing, he had to admit; Enjolras willingly marched over to the chair and slumped into it, already feeling guilty about what he did and hanging his head in shame. 

After leaving Enjolras to think for ten minutes, Valjean decided to talk to the boy and gauge his mood. 

“Enjolras?” He said quite gently, eyeing the tears gathering on the boy's lashes. He waited until the boy lifted his head up an inch, looking up at Valjean through a curtain of his hair. “Do you understand why you were put on the chair?”

Enjolras nodded with conviction, mouth set in a hard line, arms crossed stubbornly. The wetness underneath his eyes, however, did much to counter the tough exterior Enjolras was trying to maintain.

“And why was that?” He softly questioned the boy, with a small encouraging smile.

“I hurt Marius,” Enjolras admitted quietly. When Valjean simply waited for him to carry on, he continued. “I said I didn't want him to play with me anymore. I kicked him and I told him I hated him.” 

He ducked his head and mumbled a few words that Valjean barely caught. 

“I don't hate him really.”

Valjean smiled wider at the little boy, though he didn't see, his face hidden in his curls again as he ducked his head.

“Well, why don't you tell Marius that?”

Enjolras looked up hopefully, and his eyes quickly found Marius's sobbing figure. His small hands clutched the chair legs as he bit his lip guiltily. Valjean put a soothing hand on his shoulder. It wasn't that he thought Enjolras was in the right, far from it. It was the case, however, that Marius was particularly sensitive and that if the same thing would have happened to Enjolras himself, it wouldn't have been such an issue. Besides, every child in the class had inadvertently made Marius cry, even Courfeyrac. 

“Can I leave the chair?” He said quietly, but his eyes didn't leave the carpet, where Marius was still wailing into Courfeyrac's jumper.

Valjean nodded, although Enjolras probably couldn't see him, and stood up. Enjolras eyed him hopefully, and Valjean gestured towards the carpet. Enjolras rose shakily, but steeled himself and walked with a determined gait over to Marius, Courfeyrac and Cosette.

Grantaire followed him, five paces behind. This wasn't out of the ordinary, so it was no surprise that Enjolras didn't notice. Combeferre and Joly both sent him smiles, though Joly's seemed more reserved. Eponine, however, was more active, and quickly overtook Enjolras. She made it to the three on the carpet quicker, and tapped Courfeyrac's shoulder.

“Courf, could you come over here and help me with something?” She said with a wide smile, and Valjean almost laughed as soon as he understood what the girl was valiantly attempting. 

It was no secret that Courfeyrac was insanely protective of all of his friends – he had punched an eleven year old once because they had made fun of Eponine's ragged dress – but he was even more so with Marius. Therefore, Eponine was going to try and give Marius and Enjolras space in order for Enjolras to be able to apologise properly. Just as Valjean was about to intervene, Cosette stood up and took Courfeyrac's hand, nodding almost imperceptibly to Eponine.

“Yeah, Courfeyrac, we really need you!” The two girls seized Courfeyrac's arms and began dragging him over to the other side of the room. Valjean wondered what excuse they were planning to invent, but as Courfeyrac struggled to the point of nearly hurting the girls, shouting at them about how Marius needed him, Valjean interceded.

“Courfeyrac, will you come and do some phonetic exercises with me?” he said, and Courfeyrac's struggling lessened. Cosette released Courfeyrac immediately, trusting that Courfeyrac would listen to Valjean and seeing no reason not to. Eponine was more sceptical, though, as she was a bit of a rule breaker herself and knew Courfeyrac too well to simply let him go. She maintained a firm grip on his arm even as he turned to face Valjean.

Courfeyrac tugged against Eponine's arm as he looked helplessly over at Marius who had now been joined by a serious looking Enjolras. When Eponine's grip did not loosen, he looked over at Valjean with a slump in his shoulders. Sighing in defeat, he walked over to the desk beside Valjean miserably. Eponine had let go of his arm as soon as the slump in his shoulders became evident. She had detected his defeat even before he had. Valjean smiled at him sympathetically, but wasted no time in beginning the exercises he'd laid out. As he went through them with Courfeyrac, he still kept an eye on the carpet. It was his duty as a teacher to be attentive to his class, after all.

Enjolras sat squarely in front of Marius, whose sobs had subsided somewhat. He seemed to regard the other boy with mild fear, and one of his arms kept reaching out for Courfeyrac even though he wasn't there.

“Marius,” Enjolras began solemnly, head bowed. “I have come to apologise for my behaviour.”

Marius wiped a stray tear from his face as he struggled to stop sobbing, making one of the horrific gasping noises that always occur when children attempt to stop themselves from crying. Enjolras was familiar with them, and he patted Marius's leg cautiously. Marius jerked back slightly, and this seemed to make Enjolras upset.

“I'm sorry I kicked you,” His voice had begun to rise, and he blinked and bit his lip in an attempt to keep collected. “I'm really sorry I kicked you, and I'm sorry that I said I didn't want to play with you anymore.” 

Marius's lips twitched tentatively, but he still didn't fully smile. He raised a hand to his face, self-conscious, and attempted to wipe away the mixture of snot and tears that gathered around his lips. 

“I'm sorry I said I hated you.”

He squeaked, his pitch rising too, and finally Marius smiled, pulling Enjolras into a hug. The two boys hugged for only around a fraction of a second, since Enjolras wasn't a hugging type of person, but when they broke apart they both smiled at each other tentatively. 

Enjolras stood up abruptly, almost knocking Grantaire over, but he managed to steady him with a firm grip on his upper arm before he fell down. This caused Grantaire to grin wildly for a second, before he made an effort to coax his expression into something less joyful. Enjolras didn't see though, and he smiled again at Marius, before walking away, Grantaire in tow.

Valjean sighed loudly, and then covered his mouth hastily, pretending he was yawning to Courfeyrac as he dutifully repeated his pronunciation of “because” dutifully, before he hesitantly appealed to Valjean.

“Monsieur, am I done now?” He looked over at Marius. “Please?” He added respectfully, and Valjean allowed him to run off to the carpet. He watched as Marius recounted Enjolras's apology to Courfeyrac, who at first appeared angry, then accepting, then happy as Marius grinned at him.  
Cosette and Eponine returned with a bunch of tissues to wipe at Marius's face, though Courfeyrac grabbed one himself to wipe fiercely at his own nose. Valjean smiled with amusement as Courfeyrac asked the girls what they wanted his help with earlier, and the girls looked at each other guiltily. He also took a minute to watch Grantaire and Enjolras, who were sitting together with the crayons and paper Grantaire had previously abandoned to woefully regard Enjolras when he had been on the thinking chair. Grantaire seemed to be teaching Enjolras how to draw some shapes, Enjolras sticking his tongue out in concentration as he copied Grantaire's circles with a shaky hand. Combeferre and Joly sat at the same table, but were reading their own copies of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,’ looking up only to discuss it with each other in whispers every so often.

As calm finally seemed to settle around the classroom, Valjean looked up at the clock He'd never been so glad before to see that it was almost home time, though the day wasn't fully out yet. He still had to fill out an injury report for Marius, no matter how trivial the injury, and he also had planned on visiting Javert to discuss Thenardier. He wistfully thought of his bed and sighed. Today had been a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any comments are greatly appreciated!!! Thank you for reading/commenting/giving kudos :-)  
> [orestes](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Orestes) is the best beta (and person) ever!!


	4. Chapter 4

Courfeyrac held onto Marius by the wrist as they sat down on a beanbag together. If he didn’t, Marius would probably have fallen over or something. Courfeyrac had brought his own favourite book 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt,' with him, and when Marius was settled down beside him, perched half in Courfeyrac's lap, Courfeyrac put the book into his hands.

“Will you read to me, Marius?” Courfeyrac requested with a wide, warm grin that left Marius unable to refuse, even though reading was really, really not his thing.

Marius looked at the book doubtfully as he weighed it in his hands, but Courfeyrac didn't see. He flung an arm around Marius's back and rested his chin on his shoulder, ready to read the words as Marius said them. Marius would normally lean into Courfeyrac's grasp but he was nervous, and his back remained stiff as he cleared his throat timidly. He opened the book to the first page and seemed relieved when he knew the first few words.

“We're go-ing on a-” he paused and took a deep breath, studying the word before he was satisfied that he knew what the words on the page said. “Beer hunt.” 

Courfeyrac grinned, thinking Marius was joking, and Marius became more confident when he realised that he could not hear his friend laughing at him. 

“We're go-ing to cat chh a big-” He struggled through, then faltered again, and bit his lip. Courfeyrac's grin slipped, and he peered at his friend's face as best as he could from his current position. Marius was frowning, and he looked at Courfeyrac helplessly.

“On?” He guessed, and for a split second he looked terrified that Courfeyrac would laugh at him. It was a ridiculous thought – Courfeyrac wasn't exactly the most sensitive boy in the world, but he knew when to be tactful, and to him the worst thing in the world was to see Marius upset: the whole class had been witness to that yesterday.

“One,” Courfeyrac said kindly, with a slight smile with no hint of mockery or judgement. Marius stared at him for a second to ascertain whether or not to continue. After a few seconds he coughed and looked back at the book.

“Wh-at a -” He frowned again and visibly gave up, shrinking as he sat and slumping his shoulders dejectedly. The word he was struggling with was 'beautiful,' and therefore it was hard for any five year old anyway, and he shouldn't have felt as bad about it. This was Marius, though, so Courfeyrac rubbed his back encouragingly. In a childlike fashion he poked Marius's ribs gently.

“Beautiful,” he said delicately, and he smiled at Marius widely. Marius relaxed, and smiled back at his friend as Courfeyrac shifted so he could read the book alongside Marius, each taking turns at reading a word, with Courfeyrac helping if Marius struggled on one.

Valjean, who had been watching the scene tenderly, got an idea. He appraised the class and started pair the children up in his head. Cosette and Eponine, and Courfeyrac and Marius – those were the easy pairs. The rest could sort of be paired with anyone; Enjolras was the child the other pairings rested on, and Valjean wondered whether to pair him up with Combeferre or Grantaire.

He considered the matter for a minute before remembering Grantaire's improvement when motivated by Enjolras, and then decided to pair the two together. Hopefully it would mean Grantaire would be motivated and carry on at the brilliant level of improvement he was currently at. Pairing Joly and Combeferre together would probably be for the best too – Combeferre was the nicest boy Valjean had ever met, and Joly seemed to be closest with him. 

Decisions made, Valjean instructed the children to sit on the carpet so he could introduce them to the new plan for the future reading sessions. He waited as Enjolras and Combeferre led Grantaire and Joly over, and for Cosette and Eponine to skip to him with Marius and Courfeyrac before he cleared his throat and began.

“Hello, class!” He said cheerfully, smiling at the small faces grinning up at him. “We're going to start practising our reading a little differently.” He paused, and kept a close eye on their reactions as he continued. “We're going to start reading in pairs!”

A quiet, triumphant “yes!” sounded from the back row, and Cosette and Eponine gripped each others hands, daring Valjean to separate them. 

“Okay, so...” 

He put them into their designated pairs, noting with some relief that Marius didn't seem as terrified at the prospect of reading as he usually did, and Valjean was unable to ignore the sheer glee in Grantaire's expression when he was paired with Enjolras. Even if he hadn't noticed at the time, though, he would have done later, when the class emptied for lunch break and Grantaire lingered behind. 

Valjean didn't even see him there at first, busy scrolling through his email inbox and reading through all of Javert's numerous messages. There were at least fifteen dramatic emails about 'crime within the school,' and by the time he got to the last one even Valjean, who was endlessly patient, was rolling his eyes. 

He sent a quick reply to the one about Thenardier, and then jumped with a start when an impatient sound echoed from behind him. Valjean whirled round. “Grantaire?” 

Grantaire smiled somewhat shyly, and didn't quite meet Valjean's eyes.

“I just wanted to thank you,” he whispered, and Valjean made his way over to him and put a careful hand on his shoulder, crouching down so he could look him in the eye. He had an idea what it could be about, but he wasn't certain. 

“Thank me for what, Grantaire?”

The boy bit his lip bashfully, and met Valjean's eyes revealing his blush.

“For pairing me with Enjolras to read,” he said with a smile. “Enjolras has to be my friend now!”

Valjean refrained himself from rolling his eyes, but bent down fully now so he could place both his hands on Grantaire's shoulders.

“Grantaire, you know that Enjolras is your friend.”

Grantaire looked at him as if he was being ridiculous.

“No,” he explained slowly, as if he was the adult speaking to the child, “Enjolras is Combeferre's friend. Not mine.” He sighed wistfully. “He will be my friend now though, because now he has to read with me!”

“Enjolras can have more than one friend, you know,” Valjean laughed. “In fact, I'd say Enjolras is friends with everyone, but you and Combeferre are his best friends.” At Grantaire's sceptical look, he continued earnestly, dropping his voice as if he was telling a secret. 

“Enjolras keeps all of your drawings, did you know?” 

Grantaire slowly shook his head.

“Well, Enjolras told me that he puts them all in a box in his room, and shows them to everyone that goes round to his house!” he exclaimed. “I'm sure he'd show them to you, if you went around.”

Grantaire's expression brightened at that, but he still asked Valjean one last time doubtfully if he was sure that Enjolras liked him. Valjean assured him that yes, Enjolras did like him, and hurried him off to have his lunch before time ran out. He thought better of letting Grantaire run off unsupervised, seeing as Javert was being so hyperconscious about misconduct lately, and so he decided to escort him to the dining hall personally. 

He waited with Grantaire until he was securely sat next to Eponine and Cosette at their table, the only one left with a vacant seat. Enjolras's table was full, Valjean noted, but Grantaire didn't seem to mind. He didn't even glance over to his table. It was clear that this was his usual table, though, judging by the way Cosette had placed her lunchbox on the spare seat and only removed it when she saw that Grantaire had entered the room. 

Valjean was about to leave, but he stopped abruptly as he saw Grantaire pull out his own lunchbox. There was only one other lunchbox on the table. He frowned slowly as he looked for Eponine's, which simply wasn’t there, noting the way that Cosette automatically broke her sandwich in half and gave it to Eponine, and Grantaire took out his bag of crisps and handed them to her. 

She thanked them shyly, saying that they “didn't have to,” and they rolled their eyes at each other as if she hadn't said anything. To Valjean, this was a clear indication that it wasn't the first time Eponine had come to school with no lunch, and he barely kept in his snarl as he stormed off to Javert's office.

~*~

There was only around fifteen minutes left of lunch break, so Valjean thought it would be best if he saw himself out of the headmaster’s office. He'd been in there all through lunchtime, eating his packed lunch awkwardly on his lap as Javert tapped away on his computer so aggressively that the keys rattled as he pounded them. He'd tried to start up a conversation a few times, and was only met with looks of confusion from Javert, who didn't seem to understand the concept of being friendly. He was prevented from leaving by a pointed cough, however, and Javert beckoned him over to his computer.

Valjean leant forward, and saw an extremely long unsent email awaiting him. Javert had typed out an email to send to Thenardier, and he explained to Valjean that he copied it into a letter to send home with Eponine that night, since he didn't want Thenardier to have the excuse of not having access to the Internet.

The email was not quite blackmail, Valjean thought, but it definitely verged on being threatening. It stated that Javert wanted to call the Thenardiers in for a formal meeting about Eponine, though it didn’t go into specifics about why, and it had a certain undercurrent of menace. At one point, Javert even included a not-so-subtle hint about how it is ‘so nice that Eponine has her parents around, and not in a prison.’ Valjean couldn’t help but laugh, evoking a glare from Javert so strong that it would have literally killed Marius, and he quickly schooled his expression into something a lot more thoughtful.

“Maybe,” he started quite tentatively “I mean—could we just take this sentence out?” He pointed to the offending statement, and watched as Javert knitted his eyebrows together and replied curtly.

“I want to show him I mean business, Valjean.”

“Yes, but,” Valjean said in a neutral tone. “It looks a little threatening, don’t you think?” 

Javert raised an eyebrow at him, nodded slowly, and looked at Valjean as if he were stupid. Threatening Thenardier into submission was obviously his intention. To be fair to him, Valjean did agree to a point that Thenardier would ignore other methods of reasoning. It was just a little too far into the grey area about what was acceptable to say to a parent for Valjean’s liking. 

He looked at Javert, who had already turned away from him and sat back down at his computer. “Fine, go on then,” Valjean muttered, and he rested his forehead between his forefinger and thumb and went to massage his temples. “Who is the meeting with, anyway? Me or you?”

Javert stood up once more and gestured for Valjean to follow him to the door, which was very obviously a dismissal. It was for the best, though. Valjean needed to collect his students from the dining hall.

He waited until Valjean was standing just outside his office, and then Javert looked him in the eye in a serious, slightly angry manner. Javert seemed to be appraising him, shrewdly taking in Valjean's build as if he was wondering if he was tough enough to join Javert's private police force.

“We’ll do it together,” he said finally, and promptly shut the door in Valjean’s face.

It seemed he had passed the test. Valjean couldn’t help but feel some vague twinges of pride as he walked back to the dining hall.

 

~*~

 

For the final twenty minutes of the day, Valjean had asked the class to discuss their favourite films. If he had foreseen the tension and controversy it brought to the room, perhaps he wouldn’t have bothered. Combeferre and Enjolras were the only two that had opinions that matched. Aside from them, no one could agree on anything.

Even Eponine and Cosette argued: “Barbie is stupid,” Eponine had said dismissively, causing Cosette to widen her eyes in outrage and go on to outline exactly why Barbie was not, in fact, stupid. Courfeyrac, on the other hand, insisted that everyone should love Harry Potter, but Enjolras had declared it 'a little boring,' which made Courfeyrac so angry that he looked ready to hit him. 

Marius had been mostly ignored when he said that his favourite film was Titanic, at least by everyone except for Courfeyrac, who had rolled his eyes fondly, and Valjean, who grinned at Marius in surprised amusement. “Titanic? The one with the ship, and Rose and Jack?” he asked, just to make sure the boy had the right film in mind. It was an unusual choice for a five year old, to say the least.

“Yeah,” Marius smiled. “It's very sad, though.”

Valjean agreed in a serious tone, but couldn't help but picture Marius on his own with a box of tissues and a tub of comfort food beside him watching Titanic, weeping about the tragic love affair. He had to stop himself from laughing as the image kept recurring in his mind. 

Grantaire was valiantly trying to make the rest of the class listen to him, convinced that he had a film that everybody could agree on. It was hard task, between Marius humming Celine Dion, Cosette and Eponine almost screaming about Barbie, and Courfeyrac pointing his finger at Enjolras and yelling 'Avada Kedavra.' Enjolras saw that Grantaire was struggling to make everyone pay attention to him, which wasn’t surprising considering the fact he was stood up and waving his arms frantically, trying to get everyone to look at him. 

In a surprising display of consideration, Enjolras quickly stood up and walked over to stand next to Grantaire. This was progress in itself, as far as getting Grantaire attention was concerned – Courfeyrac, Combeferre and Joly’s eyes all tracked his movement from one side of the room to the other.

“Everybody!” he yelled, seizing Marius’s attention, who stopped mid-hum to look at Enjolras. Cosette and Eponine were the only ones who didn't seem to notice him shouting, or maybe they just didn't care. Valjean wasn’t sure which. Eponine carried on calling Barbie stupid until Cosette was almost tearing her own hair out in frustration, though, and Enjolras strode over to them angrily because they were disrupting what Grantaire had to say.

Only when his angry little form was positioned over them, hands on his hips, did they pause in their argument to look at him. Eponine looked glad for an intervention. She was getting a little bored of their debate, since she didn't really have any other argument than “But she's stupid,” to respond with, whereas Cosette looked annoyed at the interruption, convinced that she was winning. 

Enjolras glared at them. “Grantaire wants to speak!” 

With that, he theatrically walked back to his seat and sat down, looking over at Grantaire with a small smile. Grantaire was stunned, and stared at Enjolras with wonder for a few moments before quickly glancing at Valjean with a delighted expression. This display seemed to be enough of a confirmation of what Valjean had told him earlier to make him believe it. When Valjean nodded back at him encouragingly, Grantaire cleared his throat.

“I have one everybody will like,” He began in a proud tone, and then hurried on excitedly. “Toy Story!”

There was a split second when everyone paused to consider it, but it seemed like a very long time to Valjean, who prayed that no one would have any strong opinions against the film, and for Grantaire, whose triumphant expression was one frown-from-Enjolras away from crumbling.

Finally, Courfeyrac broke the silence with a cheer. “To infinity and beyond!” He yelled, sticking his arm up in the air as if he were about to take flight, and Marius copyied his example with a goofy smile.

Cosette smiled, and clapped her hands together excitedly. 

“My favourites are the aliens!” She exclaimed, and when Eponine replied with an excited “Me too!” they both looked at each other dubiously for all of a second before they embraced. Being five year old girls, they had a knack for getting over their arguments quickly.

Combeferre offered Grantaire a wide smile, and as Joly was pulled to one side by Eponine and Cosette to discuss his favourite part of the film (which, incidentally, was the part where the toys were trapped in 'The Claw,' prompting Eponine and Cosette to squeal and start enthusing about the aliens), and Enjolras finally looked at Grantaire.

“Good choice,” he said to the boy, smiling and gesturing to the spot on his right, in between him and Combeferre, for Grantaire to sit in. Grantaire pranced over joyfully, and looked thoroughly delighted when Enjolras began to include him in the conversation with Combeferre. The three discussed Toy Story for a while, before moving on to Finding Nemo, a conversation in which Enjolras tried his best to convince them that Marlin was the funniest, not Dory. “He's more subtle,” he insisted, but even Combeferre had looked at him sceptically, and Grantaire stared at him as if he'd grown two heads.

It was at this moment that Javert decided to burst in, looking unusually excited. At least, excitement was what Valjean would have to describe it as, but only because he was fairly sure that no better word to describe this sort of turbulent joy had been invented and entered into the dictionary yet.

His features were animated by some sort of frenzied delight, but it could just as easily have been read as frenzied rage, if Valjean had not been witness to Javert's angry expression on countless occassions. Still, his 'happy' face looked manic, and even Valjean had to admit it was scary. 

He looked evil, like some sort of demon, and when Javert threw his head back and cackled, Marius actually screamed. Javert didn't even seem to notice, and Valjean let a small smile pass his lips as he caught sight of Thenardier stood in the entrance hall, hopping from one foot to the other nervously. He looked over to the carpet and was glad to see Eponine hadn't noticed her father standing there. She was sleeping at Cosette's house tonight again, anyway, since it was a Friday night. 

Valjean glanced at the clock, noting that there were only two minutes left until the end of the day, and he inclined his head at it to Javert. Javert sighed impatiently and crossed the room, his manic expression still in place. It had faded a little though, and he threw the doors of the classroom open in the hope that it would make the parents arrive sooner to take the children out of their hands so that Valjean could be free to interrogate Thenardier alongside him.

With a sigh, Valjean realised that Javert’s plan may work in the short term, the long term repercussions could be disastrous. He was going to actively discourage the parents from leaving their children in the establishment all day with that demonic look. With a pained sort of smile, Valjean looked over at Combeferre, who looked back with proud smile and nod that seemed to say “I've got it covered.”

Valjean took several quick strides to the door, where he grabbed Javert's arm and pulled him back. Javert’s glee dimmed as he frowned at Valjean, while Valjean exchanged a polite smile with Fantine, and watched as Cosette pulled Eponine towards the coat hangers. Satisfied that the girls were safe and supervised, Valjean led Javert a considerable distance away from the door.

“Why don’t you go over there and…intimidate him while I wait for the children to be collected?”

Valjean could barelyrestrain himself from rolling his eyes and Javert straightened and strode away with an imperious manner, before practising a growl in the small window in the door before he left. 

This wasn’t the first time that Valjean felt relieved to see the back of the headmaster. Pleased, he moved over to where Enjolras, Grantaire and Combeferre were still debating Finding Nemo.

“No, Dory can speak whale, that’s why the whale spat them out at Sydney!”

“But at the end she says ‘I wish I could speak whale,’ Enjolras! So she can’t speak whale!”

“I think it’s left up to us to decide,” Combeferre interjected peaceably. “It could be either.”

Valjean smiled at them, and sat down on their table. 

“I agree with Combeferre,” he said when the boys looked up at him. “It’s up to you guys to make that decision on your own. No answer is right or wrong.”

Enjolras glanced at him stubbornly at that, but he kept his mouth shut. Grantaire sighe, and uncrossed his arms. His eyes darted to Enjolras, and he bit his lip as he began to look a bit worried.

“I’m sorry for disagreeing with you, Enjolras,” he whispered nervously. “We’re still friends, right?” 

When Enjolras looked back at him incredulously and threw an arm around his shoulder with a smile, both Valjean and Combeferre stood up. Valjean looked down at the boy in question, in awe of his ability to make himself scarce at just the right time, but he quickly realised that it was not for Grantaire’s benefit that the boy had sprung to his feet.

Combeferre had stood up because his father was waiting for him patiently at the door. There was a wide grin on his face, and he was waving at his son enthusiastically. Placing a careful hand on both Enjolras’s and Grantaire’s shoulders to say goodbye, Combeferre went to put his coat on. Valjean smiled at Combeferre’s father.

To pass the time, they amiably started to make small talk about the weather until Combeferre was ready, and then, just when the boy was ready to leave, Valjean and his father were joined by Marius’s grandfather in the doorway. Sending him a quick, kind smile (Combeferre was really his father’s son, Valjean noticed), he and Combeferre said goodbye to Valjean as they left the classroom.

Courfeyrac skipped over to Marius’s grandfather with him, helping to gather Marius’s things. Marius’s grandfather smiled at Courfeyrac fondly and kindly told him he was welcome to stay at his house with Marius at some point, if he ever wanted to. Courfeyrac grinned excitedly, nodding, and then hugged Marius tightly before he left.

When Marius was gone, Courfeyrac scanned the room and noticed that Joly was sat alone, so he went to sit down beside with him with a smile.

Enjolras and Grantaire were both picked up by their respective parents within a matter of minutes after Marius left, so Valjean took a place next to Joly and Courfeyrac. The two boys were talking about their best friends. Courfeyrac blabbed on about Marius for a while, while Joly shyly described his two best friends that went to the primary school on the other side of town, Musichetta and Bossuet. 

As he listened to Joly tell Courfeyrac about the trio’s adventures, Valjean realised with a start that Joly wasn’t as shy as he initially seemed, and maybe he just needed to make solid friends in the group before he felt that he could come out of his shell.

When Courfeyrac, and finally, Joly, had left, Valjean hurried to Javert’s office. He could already hear the two of them yelling even from across the corridor, and when he was outside he distinctly heard Javert shout that Thenardier was “Good for nothing scum, doing your blatant drug deals in the shade of dark alleys like some idiot criminal out of a bad film, and your wife’s no better! In fact,” Javert laughed. “I’ve heard rumours telling me exactly how well acquainted she is with the back alleys.”

Valjean opened the door to find Thenardier swinging back his fist and punching Javert square in the jaw. He ran over to separate them immediately. Though he had to focus most of his strength on holding Javert back, because he was apoplectic with rage, Thenardier was surprising passive about the whole thing. He had sat down straight away, with what he probably thought to be an apologetic expression on his face.

Ignoring him, Valjean clutched Javert’s arms and kept a tight grasp on them until Javert actually started breathing again. Even then, it was a while before he ceased struggling. It was lucky that Valjean was stronger than he looked, because while Javert was writhing in his grasp he’d accidentally landed a couple of blows to Valjean’s stomach.

When he was certain that Javert wouldn’t attempt to beat Thenardier to a pulp, he let the other man go. Javert didn’t even look at Thenardier, simply picked up the phone and began to dial. As soon as Javert picked up the phone, Thenardier had jumped up out of his seat. Knowing what was coming, Valjean moved over to the doorway and blocked the exit. 

Thenardier growled, looking around the office futilely for another escape, before moving over to Valjean with an ugly expression. Valjean raised an eyebrow at him. He had prepared himself for a fight if that was what was needed and so had Javert. If that hadn’t been obvious from his earlier fury, it was clear when the headmaster moved over to stand beside Valjean, the receiver still clasped tight in his hand.

After a moment, he spoke determinedly into the microphone. “Hello. I’d like the police, please.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sure i don't have to remind you all again that [izzie](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Orestes) is the best person and beta and fic writer in the world by now but i will do it anyway!!!   
> also, thank you all so much for your lovely comments/kudos it really inspires me to write more:-)   
> hope you enjoyed this chapter!  
> as always, comments are appreciated! (as are kudos)  
> <3


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh! i'm sorry it's been so long since updates, i've just had so many different fics and projects on the go that it's taken me a bit longer to beat this one out. thank you again to the lovely [izzie](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Orestes/pseuds/Orestes) for beta-ing. <3

Valjean was exhausted. It would probably be much easier, he thought, if he just recycled the costumes year in, year out, but he liked the idea of each nursery class performing their nativity plays with an individual twist. It was worth it in the long run, if not only because it meant the parents and children felt more involved, but right now it seemed like too much of a burden. He had spent three hours last night sewing extra feathers on to the wings of the angel outfits, since the Thenardiers had been in charge of the angel costumes and, although they hadn’t entirely failed to deliver, the wings were quite pathetic and Valjean was rather pedantic about the nativity play. 

In fact, even Javert would not interfere so much when it came closer to Christmas, purely because it was known throughout the school that the normally quiet, benevolent nursery teacher would get absolutely livid if you did anything that would put a spanner in all of his hard work for the Christmas play – one fateful year, a nosy ginger-haired woman (she was recently employed, and Valjean hadn’t learnt her name yet) had started by giving Valjean ‘suggestions’ which irritated him just enough that his smile was a little forced, but when she had actually had the audacity to start painting his set a different colour, Valjean had quite literally thrown a tantrum and screamed. In retrospect, Valjean was more than a little ashamed of that, especially as the woman had been fired shortly after. Javert had reasoned that Valjean was ‘worth more to the school and its ideals’ than she was, and despite Valjean’s protests that she was okay, really, he could work with her just fine as soon as the nativity play was over, Javert had fired her anyway. 

Although he felt guilty, Valjean was unsurprised by Javert’s decision and considerably relieved by the fact he wouldn’t have to see the woman again, if he was honest. Also, Javert usually acted like he hated Valjean. The incident was a nice reminder that he actually sort of hated everyone by default, regardless of whether or not they had ever accidentally ‘stolen’ a pen from him. As for the not seeing the woman again, if he was completely truthful with himself, although he never normally felt animosity towards anyone, on the rare occasions when someone did annoy him he could be just as bad as Javert when it came to holding grudges.

As he began to get the costumes out of the small suitcase he had folded them into this morning, he marvelled at the fact that the Thenardiers had made an attempt at all. Of course Thenardier had been quite pleasant since the whole fiasco last week, but that was only because he had genuinely believed that Javert was calling the police. Valjean knew better, though. Javert was a brilliant actor, but he had a tell – his fists always clenched sporadically at his sides when he was lying. Besides, Valjean had been close enough to hear the muffled dialling tone even as Javert spoke. 

So Thenardier had been sent away with nothing but a scare and a printed copy of Javert’s list of reasons why he could get convicted some time in the near future. He had been nice enough ever since, if not extraordinarily distant. For the first time ever Valjean had been introduced to Mme. Thenardier as she began to drop Eponine to school instead of her husband or, as was more usual, the ‘taxi’. He couldn’t help but suspect that her husband was perhaps too scared to return to the school. 

Combeferre was the first to arrive at school that morning, and he observed the costumes with obvious interest. At Valjean’s request his father accompanied him into the room. The pair of them had been in charge of the ‘wise men’ costumes, and while he followed Valjean to the nearest table to show him how they looked, Combeferre crossed the room to take his coat off.

“Wow,” Valjean murmured, holding out the bright purple and gold shirt. “This is really amazing,” he said, and he glanced up to see Combeferre’s father visibly brighten, his anxious expression quickly fading fast. “Really, did you make this yourself?”

“Not _all_ by himself. I helped!” Combeferre grinned from behind them, poking his little head in the gap between their bodies. His father ruffled his hair fondly. 

“That you did, little guy, and I couldn’t have done it without you,” his father said earnestly, nodding his conviction. He looked up at Valjean. “In fact, if you look at all these little gold sequins,” he pointed, “Combeferre helped me sew most of them on as well as drawing out the designs for me.”

Combeferre had glowed at the praise and assured Valjean that the designs were very detailed indeed. Valjean took a moment to thank God for people like Combeferre and his father, and then proceeded to compliment them both enthusiastically. 

Although Valjean wouldn’t have minded if Combeferre’s father had stayed longer – in fact, he would have loved for him to help him out, which was a measure of how much Valjean really trusted him – he left a couple of minutes later with a warm smile, a handshake with Valjean, and a tight hug with Combeferre, kissing the top of his son’s head. Combeferre didn’t squirm like most small children would, just laughed softly and waved his small hand as his father left the room.

Valjean had just sat down with Combeferre, who was chatting away happily about his dog, when he faintly heard Combeferre’s father talking with someone outside. He quickly identified the other voice as female when he heard a high-pitched, breathless little giggle followed by a squeak. He excused himself from Combeferre, who nodded understandingly and went to pull his book out of his backpack before he walked to the door.

Grantaire quite literally hopped into the classroom. He kept his right leg raised in a tight grip and propelled himself forward in little jumps with his left, sparing a grin for Valjean and a gasped “Good morning.” Evidently the hopping was a strenuous task. When Valjean raised an amused eyebrow at Grantaire’s mother, she shook her head and laughed.

“Good morning, Monsieur Valjean. I’m not exactly sure why he’s doing it, but he’s been hopping about like that all morning.” She ran her hands through her long dark curls in an embarrassed manner. “I thought it was a new game he’s playing, but he said it’s for luck,” Her voice dropped to a stage whisper as she leant forward. “I think he wants to be Joseph.”

Valjean invited her into the room, noting the star of Bethlehem costume poking out of the plastic bag in her hands. She obliged, though a little clumsily , tripping over a chair leg on her way in.

“Who was that man who just walked past me?” Grantaire’s mother blurted out instead of a greeting. If she was going for casual, it failed miserably. “He’s – Well, I’ve never seen him around? At least, I don’t think I have.” Her voice dropped to a mutter that she clearly thought no one else could hear when she said appreciatively, “I wouldn’t have forgotten a man who looked like that in a hurry.”

Valjean pretended he didn’t hear the last comment and smiled, gesturing to Combeferre. “That’s Combeferre’s father.”

Combeferre’s head snapped up at the mention of his name. He had been so engrossed in his book that he hadn’t even noticed Grantaire’s arrival. When he did, he waved Grantaire over, not looking at all surprised at the way he struggled across the classroom, alternating half-way through to shift the weight to his right leg. Combeferre just stood up and looped his arm around Grantaire's shoulders, helping him along. Only when Combeferre had managed to seat Grantaire safely in the chair next to beside his did Valjean hear him gently ask why on earth he was hopping everywhere. 

Valjean smiled and directed his attention back to Grantaire's mother, who still looked a little flushed. She was holding out her attempt at making the star of Bethlehem. He could see where Grantaire had helped from the patch of luminous yellow crayon on the side. Valjean was rather happy with it, although he _had_ seen his ideal one in a shop a couple of weeks back. Even if it was way out of his price range, he couldn’t help but lament the loss of that silver and gold star even as he thanked Grantaire's mother profusely.

When Grantaire's mother kissed him lightly on the cheek and bade him farewell, Valjean counted out all the costumes. Grantaire's and Combeferre's were the only two he had been waiting on and of course the angel outfits had needed to be amended after the Thenardiers’ poor effort was revealed. Now though, Valjean regarded the costumes with some pride and enthusiasm. This year’s nativity play was going to be a good one – he could feel it.

~*~

Eponine had stuck her tongue out at him dismissively when Valjean had asked her if she wanted to be an angel, and now Valjean was at a bit of a loss. Cosette, on the other hand, was more than happy about being selected to be an angel. She still hadn't let go of Valjean's leg, hugging it tightly and telling him loudly that he was the “best person ever.” Eponine had slunk back to sit with Grantaire and Enjolras, and Grantaire bent his head closer so he could hear what she whispered in his ear. Enjolras observed them both with interest and tried not-so-subtly to listen in, angling his body so that he was as close as he could be to the ear that Eponine was whispering into. Of course, this meant that he had to lean across Grantaire’s lap. He had risen to his knees and all of a sudden he lost his balance. 

Although Grantaire at first looked a little bewildered as to why he suddenly had a lapful of Enjolras, when the other boy smiled at him brightly, trying valiantly to pretend he meant to do it, Grantaire grinned and his features lit up. Valjean observed the way Enjolras shook his golden curls out of his face and it suddenly clicked. He had found his second angel. Providing that Enjolras was willing, of course. 

Valjean beckoned to Enjolras as he called his name, and Enjolras clambered out of Grantaire's lap hurriedly, looking embarrassed and a little sheepish. Grantaire watched him leave mournfully and made grabby hands at Enjolras’s retreating back. Enjolras didn’t notice, and continued his journey to the front of the class. Courfeyrac did, though, and with a devilish grin he leant over Marius to grab Grantaire’s hand and pulled, making the other boy fall over.

“Hey!” Grantaire said indignantly, but he was never one to hold grudges. He simply straightened up and stuck his tongue out at Courfeyrac, and soon enough he was shuffling over to talk to him and Marius. With a hopeful expression, Grantaire spoke. “Who do you think will be Joseph?”

“Well,” Courfeyrac relaxed, and stretched his legs out in front of him. “I could be Joseph, I guess. I’d rather not be though, he’s too boring.” He scrutinized Marius and then sent Grantaire an amused glance. “Marius won’t be Joseph,” he said it dismissively, but patted Marius’s shoulder softly; just in case Marius took offence. Marius didn’t seem to though and just nodded in acceptance, while Courfeyrac continued, missing the point completely. “Maybe it’ll be Enjolras or Combeferre?”

Out of the corners of his eyes Valjean saw Grantaire’s shoulders slump. He would have gone over to ask what had happened, but Enjolras sighed impatiently in front of him. Enjolras hated waiting around without a clear purpose.

“Hello, Enjolras,” Valjean said hurriedly. “I just wanted to ask you something about the play. It’s nothing to worry about,” he noted the way Enjolras’s shoulders were squared defiantly and the suspicious look on his face and so smiled at him encouragingly before continuing. “I know I gave you the part of one of the wise men already. But I was wondering if you wanted to take on another part as well? It’s a really good part to play, trust me.”

Enjolras hesitated, and he glanced over at the carpet where Grantaire was slumped over dejectedly. “M’sieur, I – I’d love to have a new part, but – well, it’s not Joseph, is it? I don’t want to be Joseph.” 

Valjean smiled knowingly, and shook his head. “No. It’s not Joseph.”

Enjolras smiled, relieved. Valjean was about to explain further, but the words were hardly out of his mouth before Enjolras spoke again, interrupting him. “I think Grantaire will make a really good Joseph.” He said it decisively, and in a manner that suggested Grantaire had already been picked for the part. Without waiting for a reply, he waved his hand to change the topic. “Which part do you have for me, M’sieur?” 

“I was wondering if you’d like to be Angel Gabriel?” 

The words were out of his mouth before he could fully consider them. He hadn’t planned for Enjolras to be anything but a regular angel, but the image of him in the special halo was almost too good to pass up. Thinking about it, Enjolras would make a fantastic Angel Gabriel, and Valjean didn’t regret the decision. Cosette was ecstatic that she was an angel at all, so he was sure she wouldn’t mind.

Enjolras considered for all of a second before he brightened, nodding enthusiastically. 

“So I’m a wise man, and the Angel Gabriel?” Enjolras asked, then waited for Valjean’s nod of agreement before he whooped, running over to Combeferre to tell him the good news. Grantaire scrambled up and joined the two, worried that he might be missing out on something.

Valjean watched the three of them distantly for a moment, and frowned in consideration. Enjolras couldn’t possibly play three of the main parts by himself, and he had already said he didn’t want the part of Joseph. Courfeyrac and Marius were happy sharing the role of the donkey as well as their additional roles, so Valjean didn’t consider them for the part either. Joly was another consideration, but he probably wouldn’t enjoy being thrust into the spotlight. These four, however, were never part of the plan anyway.

It was true enough that Combeferre was his first choice for Joseph, but Combeferre was already a wise man, and had expressed his interest in playing one of the innkeepers as well. Besides, Grantaire seemed absolutely desperate for the part, and he didn’t actually have a part yet.

“Children, can we all come and sit on the carpet please?” Valjean called, walking over to take his seat at the front. He had made his decision, and he glanced down at the piece of paper where he’d scribbled the parts down, even though he didn’t need to.

Wise men - Combeferre, Enjolras, ~~Joly?~~ _Courfeyrac_  
Shepherds – Eponine, Joly, Combeferre  
Innkeepers – Joly, Courfeyrac, ~~Grantaire~~ Eponine  
Angels – Cosette, Marius, ~~Eponine~~ , **Enjolras** (Gabriel)  
Donkey – Marius  & Courfeyrac  
Mary – **Cosette** / ~~Eponine~~  
Joseph – ~~Combeferre~~ ~~Enjolras?~~ ~~_Combeferre_~~ **Grantaire**

He went through most of the list with ease, the pupils brightening slightly every time they heard they had been enlisted for a new role. When Cosette had been told she had the part of Mary, though, her reaction had been far more extreme. She hugged Valjean’s leg for five minutes straight, refusing to let go as she wept happily into his trouser leg. That was nothing though, compared to Grantaire’s reaction to being cast as Joseph. 

“Grantaire?” he gently probed, waiting for Grantaire to give any sort of sign that he was still with them. He remained silent though, mouth wide open and tears collecting in his eyes. Enjolras and Combeferre started poking him, and when Grantaire continued to not notice, Enjolras prodded him more viciously, a frustrated frown marring his features.

The rest of the class watched, mildly entertained for all of two minutes before there was any sign of reaction from Grantaire. This came only after Courfeyrac had intervened. He strode over to the boy and waved his hands in his face, causing Grantaire to finally snap out of his reverie. Courfeyrac toppled over with a cry of outrage when Grantaire sprung up, screaming loudly.

“I’m Joseph!” he shouted, and suddenly began to laugh maniacally, doing some odd victory dance in which he shoved his limbs out at awkward angles and pumped his right arm up and down rhythmically. Courfeyrac joined in and began to sing Queen tunelessly, soon pulling Marius up to join him. Eponine quickly followed, and Grantaire and Eponine had a weird sort of face-off, each trying to make their dances more outlandish than the other. Combeferre, Enjolras and Joly all watched the spectacle from the sidelines, Joly and Combeferre with interest and Enjolras with incredulity. Cosette was still attached to Valjean’s leg and therefore couldn’t see, but she hummed along with Courfeyrac anyway.

Valjean wondered distantly if any of the other classes were this chaotic, and briefly considered the possibility that the other teachers at the school might not tolerate it – better teachers than he, of course. That’s why he only taught the nursery class. Then Cosette squeezed his leg one last time before running over to join in, and Valjean saw the delighted expressions of all those involved. Even Enjolras smiled when Grantaire danced closer to him, and Combeferre and Joly had jumped up when Cosette had joined in, both doing a sensible jig on the outskirts of the circle. Valjean couldn’t bring himself to regret the chaos, if it brought the children this much happiness. Besides, he thought, it was only two minutes until lunch time. 

~*~

“Okay, so has everyone got their costumes on in there?” 

Valjean touched his temples delicately. He'd been relying upon one of the women classroom assistants to be free to help Cosette and Eponine into their outfits, but the only one that wasn't off sick or on some trip was the year six classroom assistant, and the teacher wouldn't allow her to come and help, rolling his eyes and telling Valjean in a put-upon tone that he wished his biggest worry was the nativity play before shutting the door.

He was already stressed enough, but that comment had irked him so much that he could barely keep his patience intact when Marius and Courfeyrac, fully inside the donkey costume even though Valjean _had_ told them not to get into it yet, fell over on their side. When he heard Marius begin to wail, Valjean took a few deep breaths to try and remain calm and collected and be prepared to deal with Marius in the most sensitive manner possible. 

“We’re done, Monsieur!” Cosette pranced out of the toilets and skipped over to Valjean, smiling. She fit into the outfit perfectly, and Valjean was immensely grateful for that. He almost hugged her, and he felt his mood lift considerably, but then the door opened with a slam. 

“Valjean,” Javert began, but he cut himself off as he observed the chaos in the room. He furrowed his eyebrows at the lopsided donkey that was currently writhing about on the floor and making loud wailing noises, and he took a hurried step back when Grantaire skipped over to him and attempted to grab his leg.

“I’m going to be Joseph, Monsieur!” he exclaimed, grin stretching wide across his face. For once, Enjolras’s presence went unnoticed by Grantaire as he hovered a pace behind him, looking up at Javert with a stern, mistrustful expression, as if he were warning him not to tell Grantaire off.

Valjean didn’t lend Javert a helping hand, opting to leave him to deal with the two of them (and now Cosette and Eponine, who had both decided it would be fun to prance over to the headmaster and annoy him as he went to help disentangle Marius and Courfeyrac from the donkey costume. 

Marius’s wails had quieted ever since Javert first spoke, and Valjean thanked heavens for small mercies. 

He faintly heard Javert say, in a confused tone, “I don’t care,” as Valjean unzipped the partition to reveal two frightened little boys, one sobbing silently and the other cradling his friend.

“See! Wasn’t that easily fixed?” he smiled kindly and waited for them to both clamber out and right themselves before he turned stern. “Next time, listen to me, and we won’t have this problem.”

They both turned red, and Marius stuck his trembling lower lip out while Courfeyrac simply looked sheepish. “Yes, Monsieur,” they muttered quietly, and Courfeyrac added “We’re sorry Monsieur,” while Marius choked a little on his tears.

In the meantime, Combeferre had managed to coax Grantaire and Enjolras away from Javert with a book he recommended to them (and by recommend, it means he shoved it in Enjolras’s palms and instructed him to “go and read this with Grantaire!”) and then he and Joly had teamed up to try and distract the girls. When it still hadn’t worked after a few minutes, though, they gave up and Combeferre shrugged helplessly at Javert. The two girls had started to treat Javert as if he were one of their friends and just the thought of that cheered Valjean up enough for him to pat Marius on the head consolingly and go and see what Javert wanted.

“Thank Christ.” Javert said when Valjean approached, tapped the girls on the shoulders and shooed them away. “Valjean, I need to talk to you about the play.”

Valjean instantly felt panic stir in his gut.

“What?” he demanded. “What about the play?”

Javert didn’t notice his panic, as he was too busy frowning sternly at Courfeyrac, who had hoisted Marius on top on his shoulders in attempt to cheer him up and was now whizzing him around the room. The two boys didn’t notice, but Courfeyrac let Marius down soon enough anyway and began complaining about Marius being a dead weight. Marius seemed like he couldn’t decide whether or not that was an insult, but thankfully Courfeyrac was good enough at gauging ‘Marius-moods’ to avoid the tantrum before it started, quickly enveloping him in a bear hug. 

Javert turned away from the display of affection so quickly that Valjean heard his neck snap loudly and winced. Utterly unperturbed, Javert seemed to realise that Valjean was still waiting.

“Ah, yes. You’ll need to incorporate the years five and six choir.” 

Valjean sighed in relief. The choir he could handle – as long as they didn’t want any parts, or didn’t want to mess with his play. He was fine with that, and told Javert as much. Javert wasn’t finished there, however, and he continued speaking over Valjean.

“The year five teacher is on maternity leave.” At this he rolled his eyes, as if the mere notion of having time off to have something as ridiculous as a _child_ was inconceivable. “And the year six teacher is reportedly ‘run off her feet’, and we’ve learned the hard way that no other teacher is to be trusted with your stupid play. Regrettably, the duty falls upon me to help you out with it. I must do my duty to the school, however distasteful the duty may be.” He wrinkled his nose in the general direction of the excited children.

Valjean raised his eyebrows, but said nothing. He even ignored the dig about the “stupid play” as he thought it over. If he was honest, it was probably better to be working alongside someone with zero creativity as he wouldn’t try and push any new, “interesting” ideas along. Javert was most definitely that someone. He nodded at Javert, who suddenly turned a little awkward. He coughed, and put his hands in his pockets.

“So,” he shifted. “What would you like me to assist with?”

Valjean almost smirked as he slowly let his gaze drift around the classroom. Enjolras and Grantaire were now arguing over the true moral to “The Twits” – Grantaire was convinced that the moral was that anyone was ugly was stupid and evil, and Enjolras argued vehemently that Roald Dahl intended the opposite – and to their right, Courfeyrac and Marius were doing some sort of jig together, Marius kicking his legs about and knocking over building blocks on his way. The building blocks he was knocking over were the same ones that Combeferre kept patiently reconstructing, though after the fourth time it happened he sighed and stared at Marius reproachfully, eyeing his leg with caution every time it came too near. The girls were dressing Joly up, and though he didn’t seem too thrilled about his halo and wings, he shrugged and let them do it anyway. Cosette was giggling constantly as they made him twirl around and, though Eponine seemed slightly more sympathetic towards him, she continued to instruct him on his posture regardless. 

Javert had followed his gaze up until Marius, but then he’d stopped in abject horror. 

“Well, Javert,” he started mock-sweetly. “We need to get them all to calm down and change into their outfits. We need to make sure they all fit. It might be difficult, especially because some of them are playing double parts! Oh, and we then need to get them into their ordinary clothes again, and hand out their scripts before home time.” 

Javert widened his eyes.

“You must be joking. Valjean, home time is half an hour from now.”

Valjean nodded. “Yes Javert,” he said grimly. “I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry how this fic has slowly started revolving around the adventures of valjean and javert, but more child-related cuteness next chapter, i promise!!  
> thank you for reading, and all kinds of feedback and comments are appreciated <33
> 
> p.s you guys should hit me up at my [tumblr!!!!](http://cptainhooked.tumblr.com/)


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